Beijing municipal authorities said Tuesday that 27 infections with the new coronavirus have been newly confirmed, bringing the total to over 100 in the last six days following the detection of a cluster at the biggest wholesale market in the Chinese capital.
The city said it will raise its alert level and shut down schools to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to Chinese media.
According to the authorities, 22 out of the 27 infections that came to light Monday were detected in the southwestern district of Fengtai, where the Xinfadi market is located. The local government has announced it will conduct virus tests on about 200,000 people who have visited the market since May 30.
The latest outbreak comes after Beijing lowered its emergency response to the virus from the second level posture to the third level on June 6. No new infection cases had been found in the capital for roughly two months.
The daily figure represents only symptomatic patients. The number of new asymptomatic patients detected Monday was three.
Emphasizing that Beijing has entered a "wartime emergency mode," the municipal government has pledged to implement measures to prevent further infections with the virus that causes the respiratory disease COVID-19.
In Beijing, the number of infections had risen by 72 over two days through Sunday, many of which were linked to the market.
On the mainland overall, 40 new coronavirus infections were confirmed Monday, bringing the total to 83,221, with 4,634 deaths, China's health authorities reported.
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